About The WON

The Womenâ€™s Outdoor News, aka The WON, delivers news, reviews and stories about women in the outdoors. Born out of a desire to serve the burgeoning outdoor market for women and to inspire as many women to go outside as possible, The WON pops into email inboxes, RSS Feeds and Twitter Feeds with updates during the work week.

Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in travel and outdoor markets. Before The WON she worked as a newspaper and magazine editor. She contributes a column â€œOut Westâ€ to Turkey Country magazine and writes two columns for Show Me Missouri magazine. When not looking for the next story, she can be found fishing, hunting, hiking, kayaking, shooting or whomping up a wild game meal. Barbara and her husband, Jason, teach NRA handgun courses at their local range near Rolla, Mo.

Kirstie and Prois Hunting Apparel Pro-Staffer, Linda Powell of Remington Firearms, set out in early June for British Columbia for a world class black bear hunt. Guided by Sabrina Fraser of Itcha Mountain Outfitters, the duo had an amazing hunt! 5 days were spent scouting on this spot and stalk bear hunt and the bears were plentiful! Sighting 64 bears over the 5 days in camp, Pike harvested this great black bear on the final day of the hunt. Powell harvested a fine black bear as well, adding another to her many bear harvests during her hunting career. According to Pike, “The area was beautiful and remote. The animals were plentiful, not only did we see scores of bears, but we spotted moose and wolves as well. I never dreamed I would see this many animals.”

Itcha Mountain Outfitters is located approximately 100 miles from Quesnel, BC. Established in 1975 by Bev & Anne Fraser then carried on in 1997 by Stewart & Sabrina Fraser, Itcha Mountain Outfitters is rich with three generations of family traditions. This vast and wild area begins in the Nazko valley and rises up to the alpine slopes of the pristine Itcha Mountains. The accomodations were clean and comfortable. The guides are top notch, and it was only an added bonus that the Prois team was guided by such an amazing female guide as Sabrina. “I would have to say that Itcha Mountain offers one of the most female-friendly hunting camps I have ever encountered- the camp itself offers a rugged yet comfortable setting deep within the BC bush.”, states Pike. The entire experience was topped off with great staff- Theresa and Darryl- who worked tirelessly to provide and endless supply of coffee and amazing food! “I will continue to highly recommend Itcha Mountain Outfitters to anyone be it man, woman or child- the hunting experience is unsurpassed!”, states Kirstie. “I am chomping at the bit to get up there again!”.

PrÃ³is Hunting Apparel for Women (pronounced â€˜pro-issâ€™) provides female hunters with a long-awaited line of high-performance, technical huntwear specifically designed for women who are serious about the hunt.PrÃ³is utilizes only performance fabrics that offer wicking, waterproofing, windstopping and silence.Combining high-end fabrics with our signature features such as scapular drop pockets, magnetic closures, snap-down zippers, lumbar compartments and thumbholes makes PrÃ³is the gear women demand for the hunt.

We have a very competitive dealer program and would enjoy the opportunity to discuss how our products could meet the needs of your female customers.Our comprehensive line may be viewed online at www.proishunting.com.Please feel free to email any inquiries to kirstie@proishunting.com.

Prois Hunting Apparel Pro-Staffer, Kristina Martin of Backstage & Backroads (Sportsman Channel), has been on the run this spring.Not only had she and her husband, country singer Daniel Lee Martin, been attending the gauntlet of early spring trade shows, they have journeyed across the continent doing what they do bestâ€¦hunting, fishing and singing.Their summer schedule is jam packed with appearances and events.

Early June had the couple located in Boca Grande, Florida for 3 sun-filled days of tarpon fishing with Captain Steve Bowler of Fish Tales.They had great fun angling for these pre-historic looking monsters!

No summer is complete withoutattending the CMAfest in Nashville, Tennessee.This was Kristina and Daniel Leeâ€™s 11th year participating in the CMAfest.Daniel Lee was once again part of the Total Outdoorsman Celebrity Challenge on June 10th.June 11th had Daniel Lee hosting the 1st annual Field and Streamâ€™s Save-A-Stream event.Just when you think heâ€™s done it all, Daniel Lee performed at the Chevy Outdoor zone on June 12th and 14th.They quickly packed their bags up again and headed north.

Nestor Falls, Ontario was the next stop on the Martin Map.Settling in at Muskie Bay Resort, a week was spent fishing for Muskie.Another quick turnaround, and the couple was next spotted in Fargo, North Dakota for the 26th annual Roger Maris Charity Event.This was the Martinâ€™s fourth year attending this charity event.

In addition, they were even able to sneak in some turkey hunting, with Kristina bagging this great gobbler.

Kristina Martin

For more information about the happenings of Kristina, Daniel Lee and Backstage&Backroads, log on to www.backstageandbackroads.com!

It has been a busy season for Prois Hunting Apparel Pro-Staffer Dana Wall.Dana, co-host on Gator Trax TV, is not one to let the grass grow under her feet!

In January, Chad and Dana Wall filmed a HOPE Outdoors hunt with Daniel Hoover.HOPE Outdoors is a Christian organization that helps to take disabled kids and adults on their dream hunts.This organization is very near and dear to Danaâ€™s heart.Not only does she work to film these amazing hunts, her home church, Woodland Baptist, holds an outdoor expo, including an expansive 3D archery shoot, to help raise funds for these hunters to help offset the expenses of the hunt.

January also brought Dana and Chad to Indianapolis for the 2009 ATA show where she did numerous appearances for Prois Hunting Apparel with her fellow pro-staffers.Soon after the ATA show, Gator Trax TV issued their first season DVD.

April kept Dana on the move as she chased longbeards across the southern states.They started out in Tennessee.Next came Kentucky, where they took three special forces soldiers on a once in a lifetime turkey hunt followed by a gospel music and a crawfish boil at the Reverend JimmyStewertâ€™s home.Dana and Chad were not done yet, they went from Kentucky to Illinois to knock down some more longbeards.Kansas is next on the list and they are looking forward totaking down some more birds with their new Elite Bows!

Along with the production of the second season of Gator Trax Outdoors and their full time jobs- Chad and Dana are in the process of building their new home.Their summer is sure to be busy, but not too busy to invite Kirstie Pike (owner of Prois Hunting Apparel) and some fellow Prois Pro-Staffers down south for a gator hunt and some great Louisiana food!

Season 2 of Gator Trax Outdoors will begin airing on the Pursuit Network in July of 2009.Tune in!For more information, log onto www.gatortraxtv.com.

Prois Pro-Staffer, Keli Van Cleave, has been quite a busy lady lately.She is currently traveling to distant regions pursuing turkey with her bow.She has some terrific stories coming down the pipeline.Until thenâ€¦

We at Prois are proud to mention one of Keliâ€™s recent feats- participating in the ATA Rage 100 Invitational.23 industry celebrities were invited to shoot their own bow (no target bows) with Rage broadheads.The shoot was an amazing 100 yard shoot at a 90 meter FITA target, with each participant taking 5 shots per round with a total of 4 rounds per person.The winners of this celebrity event received monies to be donated to the charity of their choice.

Keli shot alongside some of the industryâ€™s greatest shooters including Chris Brackett, Tim Gillingham, Pete Shepley and more. Tim Gillingham cinched up the first place standing while Mike Slinkard took a close second. Keli finished solidly in the middle of the pack.According to Keli, â€œPersonally, it was an honor to shoot against all the men who basically startedthings in this industry.We women wouldnâ€™t be here doing what we love for more than a hobby if these men didnâ€™t pave the way first.I hope I get the honor of participating again!â€œ

Keli won $500 in the 2009 Rage 100.She chose to donate her proceeds to the Bighorn Outdoors Youth Adventure Program.

Julie Caddick is well-known to us at Prois Hunting Apparel. She is an avid archer and resides in Scotland. She often pens great updates from the Scottish world of archery. We find it fascinating to learn more about the European forms of the sport and look forward to Julie’s updates. Julie’s update on the Scottish Open Championships follows.

“We spent the Easter weekend at the Castle Douglas for the Scottish Open Championships. The weather was superb, wall to wall sunshine. People came from all over Europe. There were two courses of 36 targets set out on a hillside that contained the remains of an old slate quarry, giving lots of opportunity for good uphill and dowhnill simulated hunting shots. We took our youngest dog, Bruce, and apart from getting into a slight scuffle with a large husky, he enjoyed himself. We could not take our older dog, Crow, as the ground would have been too much for him over two days.”

“I managed to take third place in ladies Bow Hunter and came away with abronze medal. My husband, Paul, took second place in Gents Hunting Tackle and got a silver medal. We came home quite happy!”

“We took this photo on the Sunday morning before going to the shoot. It is a Roe Buck. Sorry about the quality of the picture, but we were looking almost straight into the morning sunrise. If you look closely you will see that his antlers are in velvet. There was a doe with him, but we did not manage to get a photo of both of them!”

An Alabama native, Stephanie Mallory spent her childhood roaming the Bankhead Forest with her father who instilled in her a passion for the outdoors. After graduating from Auburn University with a degree in corporate journalism, Mallory decided to combine her education and passion into a career focused on the outdoors. As a freelance writer, photographer and public relations specialist, Mallory has written hundreds of magazine and Internet articles and has co-authored the book, Basic Essentials of Archery published by Globe Pequot Press. In addition, she provides public relations services for a number of outdoor-related companies.

Stephanie has been a pro-staff member of Prois since 2008.She has been remarkably busy over the last few months.The recent show season (aka: â€˜the gauntletâ€™) has led Stephanie all across the country promoting her company, Mallory Communications, Inc.In addition, she has been spearheading Public Relations efforts for Realtree, Muzzy, BigFoot Bags, Source Outdoor Group, Darton Archery, Darkwoods Blinds, ZackTack and QuickSlide.If that isnâ€™t enough, Stephanie also continues her freelance work for the Alabama Game and Fish, Wheelinâ€™ Sportsmen, Women in the Outdoors, Southern Sporting Journal and many more publications.

So what else can this remarkable woman do?For starters, Stephanie is the mother of 2 young boys and if that isnâ€™t enough, she is currently expecting twins! “My travels are pretty limited right now because of the pregnancy and I have been advised against doing any hunts for the meantime.” Mallory states. She may be on a Hunting Hiatus as her pregnancy progresses, but expect her to head for the hills as soon as she is able!